Worth
by iranjsh8
Summary: A new girl comes to the academy, but she's not a spy in training. Takes place before "Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover" and is a prequel to another story, so don't expect much plot.
1. Chapter 1

The silence is unbearable. No one in the room is talking. The lights are dimmed to a respectful glow and everything is murky. I'm living in a graveyard, a world where the dead have a stronger presence then the living. For once I don't have to block anything out because there's nothing there to listen to. Normally I would have welcomed the change, but now... it scares me. It scares me that the world can be flipped upside down without warning, that it could so completely upturn my life, breaking me to pieces. I don't care how much things hurt anymore, I don't care about the sting of words or wounds because lying in a casket in the front of the room is the person I killed. And I did it on purpose.


	2. Chapter 2

I blinked against the harsh sunlight that was burning my skin and eyes. I've never liked the sun very much. I've always preferred the dark. In the dark you don't have to see what horrible thing is in front of you or what challenge is coming at you next. After almost three years of constant attacks, darkness is a relief. Most people my age like the sun; to them it represents summer and tans and parties on the beach. To me it just means that I have to prepare to fight. And kill. The k-word is not one that I am completely comfortable using. Why bother to bring up old memories, right? I mean, the past is the past, and my treasure trove of secrets doesn't exactly include the usual drinking and driving, shoplifting, blah, blah, blah. Nope, my secrets are classified. By the FBI. And speaking of that hellhole, that happens to be where I'm walking out of right now. I stepped into the black limousine that was waiting for me and it immediately started to move. I might have looked back to watch the steel building disappear or crane my neck to look up at the amazingly tall buildings around me, but I knew that like everything in life, they would only last a second before fading into darkness anyway. So I did what I have been trained to do–I waited. The car stopped, a barely noticeable thing since the engine was so quiet and the road so smooth. I got out, taking my shoulder bag with me. All of my stuff had been shipped beforehand, not that there was a lot of it. A good spy only needs two things: your hands and your brain. I went up to the security man that was waiting at the wrought iron gate, and he asked me my name.

"Worth"

I entered the mansion easily, just by pushing the front door open. This may seem like a stupid thing to pay attention too, but after spending your entire life trying to get through doors that won't open, a door where you don't have to pick the lock and/or disable security devices is a relief. I stepped through the doorway and made my way down to headmistress Morgan's office (I had memorized the blueprints of the mansion the day before) and knocked twice. "Enter," a woman's voice called. I turned the knob and opened the door–again, unlocked–and found myself in a large office with dark paneled wood walls. Lining the walls were bookcases of the same wood, and a comfortable looking couch. Standing in the middle of the spacious room was a large mahogany desk, behind which sat a very pretty woman with long dark hair and warm eyes. "You must be our new student. My name is Headmistress Morgan." I noticed that she hadn't said my name, but that didn't surprise me. In this business everyone knows that names are–at best–temporary. Headmistress Morgan, hearing no response from me, continued to talk. "Now, you're coming in at the beginning of the semester, so it might take you some time to grasp the way our curriculum works, but I understand that you are otherwise completely caught up with your class and rather advanced in field work." I nodded. I didn't know how much she knew about me, but someone must have briefed her on my past earlier. I mean, it's not like I had any transcripts to send her as proof of my academic achievements. "Your uniforms and the rest of your belongings are in suite 14C, where you will be living for the rest of your time here. For today you should probably just work on getting settled in, since you've already missed your morning classes. Tomorrow you can start your classes. Your schedule is also in your room." I nodded again, turned around, and left. I made my way up the grand staircase and found my assigned room. I used the key that had been sitting in my bag since yesterday to open the door. It really was a suite, with a main room that had 5 beds, 5 dressers with large mirrors, and 5 desks, plus a large attached bathroom. I went over to the bed that had my suitcase on top of it and started to put things away. It didn't take much time to fold my clothes and stack them in one of the drawers of my dresser. It also didn't take long to arrange my toiletries on the one empty shelf in the medicine cabinet. However, it took much longer to try to find a place for my weapons. I needed somewhere where they would be hidden, yet easily accessible. I finally put my slimmer weapons (knife, napotine patches, etc.) underneath my mattress and put my, well, _bigger_ weapons underneath my underwear in the top drawer of my dresser. Bra cups actually make a very good hiding place for small handguns, as I had discovered last year, but that's another story. After my valuables were safely hidden, I went exploring. I had seen several passageways on the blueprints for the school, and I was willing to bet that there were even more. Sure enough, by 3:00 I had found all of the passageways depicted on the blueprints and a few that weren't. School was about to get let out, so I made my way back to my new room. I wasn't sure if my new roommates knew that I was coming, so I figured I better be there to greet them.


	3. Chapter 3

15 minutes later 2 girls walked into the room, one with dark skin and exotic brown hair and the other with light hair and skin. They were laughing and talking, but when they noticed me they just stood there, mouths slightly open, until a petite blond girl carrying an armful of books ran into them. Close behind the small girl was a very bored looking girl with black hair and a nose ring. I guess these were my new roommates. The new girls noticed me too, and they too just stood there until the black haired one unfroze and broke the silence. "So I guess you're our new roommate." She didn't say it as a question, just stated it as a fact. Suddenly the petite girl blurted out "We didn't know you were coming!" then corrected herself, "I mean...we didn't know you were coming here._" _I raised my eyebrow "I mean..." she trailed off and the dark skinned one took up the train of thought. "She means we didn't know you were coming_ today_." I noticed that she had a slight British accent. "I'm Bex, and that's Cammie, Liz, and Macey." she pointed at herself, then the girl on her right, and then the two to her left. I nodded. I already knew this, having looked up my room assignment and then my roommates the day before. "Well, aren't you going to tell us your name?" asked Macey, looking slightly impatient. "Macey!" Liz hissed, poking her with her elbow. I smiled. "My name isn't important, Macey McHenry. Besides, you wouldn't know me anyway." "Oh yeah?" she challenged, "And how do you know?" "You don't have clearance," I said and turned away. I suddenly felt like being alone. I roamed the halls until dinnertime, finding a couple new passageways in the process. When it was almost time for dinner, I decided it would be best to go back to the room. I had just rounded the corner when a tall figure at the end of the hall made me stop. "Soloman?" The tall figure turned around, and I saw his face for the first time. He looked a little older, a little scarier, and, if it was possible, a little more annoying. "Ah, Worth. I was wondering when you'd get here." He said, walking towards me. A flood of memories came back to me. A voice calling my name, a foggy street scene, a gunshot... I pushed those thoughts away. "I got in this afternoon." He nodded. He was almost as good a nodder as me, a fact I had forgotten over the past year. "Not dead, then?" he asked, half kidding. I shook my head and started for my room. I was halfway up the stairs when I realized I could probably just go down to dinner. The dining hall of Gallagher Academy is just as old and grand as the rest of the mansion. "Arabic," read the sign outside the door in a fancy cursive font. I guess that's what we'd be speaking tonight. I went in and found myself a seat. I didn't have anything to do, so I observed the room and its possible escape routes until the rest of the students came in. I could hear girls talking about me and one actually came up and started to ask me questions. When she realized I wasn't going to answer she walked back to her table, looking a little dejected. Finally, my roommates came in and sat next to me. I guess they were going to try to make friends with the new girl. Liz started to spout off answers to a Chemistry quiz she had taken that afternoon, speculating out loud if she got the answers right. After a little while I tuned her out, and I guess the conversation changed topics because when the teachers walked in and I started to pay attention again, Macey was saying something about lipstick and its possible use as a weapon. Headmistress Morgan went up to the podium at the front of the room and started to speak. "As many of you have noticed, we have a new arrival here at Gallagher Academy. I trust you will all make her feel welcome. Enjoy your dinner." she sat back down and the sound of talking and tinkle of china filled the room immediately. Throughout dinner I barely said a word, and most of the time I kept my eyes on Soloman at the front of the room. Bex must have noticed because during dessert (creme brule) she said, "Mr. Soloman is hot, but I should warn you now that Tina has first dibs." she and the others laughed, and I did too; not for real, but just to follow my cover. That night I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. I could tell from their even breathing that the other girls were asleep, lost to a world of dreams. I finally did fall asleep, only to wake up a few hours later at 5. I had not set my alarm the night before, but my body was programmed to wake up at 5:00 in the morning every day, no matter how much sleep I had gotten the night before. So I got up, brushed my teeth and put on my new uniform as quietly as possible (which is pretty darn quiet) and left the room, my backpack in tow. I sat down in one of the passageways I had found yesterday and meditated. Meditation was something I had picked up on in India, and I found that it really helped clear my mind, which in turn helped me to be more alert and therefore a better spy. I wondered if Soloman still meditated. Probably not. When I went down to breakfast I found the others already there. They stopped talking when they saw me. "Where were you this morning?" Macey demanded. I shrugged. "Out." she looked angry and a little annoyed, but she didn't say anything. We ate the rest of our food in silence. I had memorized my schedule and knew that I had first period culture and assimilation, then Organic chemistry, then Countries of the world, lunch, third period advanced calculus, protection and enforcement, and then...covert operations. When Cammie asked to see my schedule, I recited it for her and discovered that I shared 1st period with all 4 of them, Organic chemistry with Liz, Countries of the world with Cammie and Macey, lunch with all of them, calculus with none of them, protection and enforcement with Cammie and Bex, and covert operations also with Cammie and Bex. We all walked to C&A together, with them pointing out various Gallagher treasures as we went. First period was fine; not terribly exciting (we were learning about proper fan etiquette and the various ways they can harm someone) but not a huge bore either. My second period organic chemistry was pretty boring since it was really just review for me, but it was very entertaining to watch Dr. Fibs singe his eyebrows when he created a chemical reaction. Countries of the world started out with a lecture, but ended with a fairly engaging activity involving nuclear missiles. Lunch was alright. I was starting to get along better with my roommates now that we had something to talk about that wasn't classified. Calculus was, well, calculus. Protection and Enforcement was a class that I was actually pretty excited to take. I walked into the barn with Cammie and Bex and immediately liked it. Sunlight was streaming through the windows and it smelled faintly of hay. The coach paired us up with partners and told us just to practice our moves, and I had a lot of fun using the Prozowski Kick that I had learned in Russia on my partner, a girl named Eva. It was hilarious to see her face as she sat there, trying to figure out how she had gotten on the ground. I pulled her up, laughing at her dazed expression before promptly knocking her to the ground again with a swift punch, not hard enough to leave a large mark, but hard enough to knock the wind out of her. It felt good to be fighting again, feeling my muscles strain as I forced them to hit and kick, making contact each time. I had missed this, the feeling of power and exertion. It was what I was best at. After class was over and Eva had a few more bruises than she started with, I headed back into the main building with Cammie and Bex. We stood in front of a mirror and it scanned our eyes before sliding open to reveal an elevator. We stepped inside and pricked our fingers, giving a small piece of our DNA to the computer before moving down into the basement. The walls were stone and the hallways dimly lit. We passed several doors as we wound through a maze of corridors. I carefully memorized each step we took: right here, left there, past this door, through that one. We finally entered a large classroom filled with desks. Soloman was leaning against his desk at the front of the room, an image that I was unprepared for. It hadn't sunk in until now that Soloman was actually going to be my teacher. How strange. If he noticed our presence he was ignoring it, and he didn't speak until everyone was present and sitting at a desk. "I have a video for you to watch today, girls." With that the lights went out and an old fashioned projector started up in the back of the room, projecting a video clip on the wall in front of us. I recognized the scene immediately because I had seen it before. I had _lived _it before. The perspective of me was from above, so you could only see the top of my head. I watched myself use various counter surveillance techniques as I walked through the streets. It was raining and there were puddles everywhere. I watched myself round a corner and enter an ally. I saw the man in black come up behind me. I watched myself turn around and kick him to the ground. I continued forward. The rain was blocking my vision, and I didn't notice the irregularity of the shadows. A second man jumped out at me. I stopped. This was the man I had been looking for. I watched as I slipped my hand into my pocket, and I braced myself for what was coming next. The man spoke, and I replied. He spoke again and I took out the gun. He put his hands up and kept talking. Suddenly he lunged at me and we were fighting. I got away from him, aimed, and pulled the trigger. I watched him fall to the ground, blood spilling from his chest. The class gasped, but I barely registered the sound. I was reliving one of my worst nightmares. I wanted to turn away, but I couldn't; my eyes were glued to the screen. All of a sudden the lights flashed back on and the projector turned off. I composed my face into one of cool indifference. "That, ladies, is what you need to prepare yourself for. This business is more than memorization and kicks. It's about killing people, even when you don't want to." I heard Soloman continue on with his lecture and the class analyzed my moves, but I didn't hear any of it. I just kept replaying his sentence in my head, _It's about killing people, even when you don't want to. _I hadn't noticed that it was the end of class until Cammie spoke to me. "Aren't you coming?" "No. I have a question for Soloman." Cammie shrugged and she and Bex walked away, the last ones of the class to leave. Soloman had his back to me, rearranging something on his desk. "Why?" the question came out without meaning to. "They need to know what it's like out there. The real world is different from tests, you know that." I hated him at that moment. "Why my tape, why my class?" I countered. I could here the anger and tears in my voice. "I think you know why." He was infuriating me. He knew how I felt about that, yet he had played it anyway. "I need your help this year," he told me, "I need you to help teach them about how things work out there. They need to hear it from someone they can relate to, not just me. They need you." I walked out on him then. I didn't care if they needed me. I didn't care any more. I managed to avoid the room until dinner, and felt a strange sense of deja vu. When I went to dinner that night I sat with the girls because that was the only place open. "You know, we really need to know your name if you expect us to talk to you," Macey greeted me. I didn't need them to talk to me, so that wasn't much of a problem, but I didn't tell them that. I opted for silence instead. "Helllooo? Anybody there?" Bex waved her hand in front of my face. I pushed her hand away and soon they started to ignore me, talking about class instead. Cammie and Bex were filling Macey and Liz in on todays CoveOp class, describing it in full detail. Liz gasped at the part about the killing. "Why would they do that? Couldn't they just knock the guy out instead?" I couldn't believe her naivety. I felt like I had to say something then, since no one else seemed to know the answer, simple as it was. "Because, Liz. Sometimes you just have to follow orders." I got up and walked out of the dining hall, leaving my dinner untouched. I caught a glimpse of Soloman and I realized that he probably knew exactly what we had been saying. He was smiling.


	4. Chapter 4

**After a very helpful review I made a few changes to the format of the story. First of all, I changed Soloman to the correct spelling, Solomon. If anyone else finds incorrect spellings or grammar, please point the mistakes out in a review. I also split up the text so that it's easier to read. It's not split into paragraphs: more like where I would split it up if I was making really small chapters. **

Chapter 4

The next few weeks passed quickly and without excitement. I was keeping up with my classes and adjusting to the curriculum much better than anyone had expected me to. Dr. Fibs was considering moving me up to the senior level chemistry classes, and I was soon tied with Bex for the best P&E of Bex, I was getting along pretty well with my roommates, or as well as anyone can without actually telling them your name, something that continued to anger and annoy Macey.

About a month after my arrival at Gallagher, I got to experience my first Coveops pop quiz. We were in the middle of P&E when Solomon came in and told us to meet him at the front door in ten minutes. I quickly went back to my room, put down my bag of school stuff, took out my stash of napotine patches and a few other spy things and stuck them into my mission purse before heading to the Grand Hall. After listening to Solomon talk for awhile (memorize your surroundings, be cautious, blah, blah, blah) we all piled into a school van which drove us to Danzer, a small town about an hour away from school. Our mission: identify all the members of the sophomore class before they saw us.

We donned wigs and various accessories, most of which contained cameras. We also put on comms units before stepping out into the sunlight. Danzer was a pretty cute place, with old-fashioned shops lining the square of grass that was the town square and bumpy cobblestone streets. I started milling around, pretending to be interested in a window display featuring several multi-colored hats. I went into the store and looked around, tried on a few hats and walked out again. I sat down on a bench in the town square and pulled out my cell phone, pretending to send a text but really looking for anyone or anything that seemed out of place. I noticed a couple of girls standing near the stone fountain a few yards away, laughing a little too loudly. "Two girls by the fountain," I whispered into my comms. "Very good," said Solomon back to me. A few seconds later I watched the two girl's faces droop as they realized they had been compromised. Two down, 13 to go.

I compromised a few other girls and soon all of the sophomores had been spotted, and only Anna had been compromised on our side. It seemed too easy, and I could tell that Solomon had something else up his sleeve. Sure enough, a few minutes later he spoke into the comms, "Very good ladies, but your mission isn't complete yet. In the real world you need to be prepared for anything. Good luck." At that second I knew what was going to happen. My spy instincts kicked in and I spun and kicked as hard as I could. I saw a boy, probably my age, lying on the ground, out cold. Ha! If he thought I could be captured that easily, he was going to be very disappointed when he woke up. I turned back around, my senses on high alert. I couldn't see anyone else coming, but you never know what might happen. Suddenly 3 boys just like the first one surrounded me, and I kicked, punched and ducked at lightning speed. They fought back, and I realized that they were very, very good.

Eventually I managed to knock them all out and, panting, I looked around to see what my classmates were doing. "Chameleon? Duchess? Are you there?" I heard no answer, and I knew that wasn't a good thing, but I tried to ignore it. I walked around for about half an hour, and eventually Solomon's voice came in on comms. "Ms. Worth, come back to the van please. It's in the ally to your left." I did as he said and entered the van (but only before checking to make sure it wasn't a trick.) I found all of my classmates, plus Solomon, sitting there. "Congratulations Ms. Worth." my classmates were staring at me, looking a little awed. I sat down next to Cammie and I heard her whisper, "But those were Blackthorn boys!" I shot a look to Solomon, but if he noticed it he didn't reply. Blackthorn boys, eh? That was very interesting. Very interesting indeed...


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. The stupid NWEAs take up most of my attention. I'm starting to right the sequel to this story, and it's going to rock! Cammie's POV this time.**

Cammie POV

We started to go back to school, and I couldn't help but stare at my roommate. She had just beaten some of the best spies-in-training in the world, besides us of course.

The rest of us had been taken down pretty quickly, although we didn't go down without a fight. _Who is this girl? _She was a mystery that no one seemed able to solve, not even Liz. That's when I realized that I had heard her name for the first time, or at least part of it: Worth.

By that point we were back at school, and I immediately went up to my room. Liz and Macey were already there, and I told them all about our mission and our new roommate's last name. Liz immediately got to work, typing and clicking away on her computer.

Macey, Bex, and I sat waiting for twenty minutes, breathless. Liz finally looked up from the computer. "Nothing," she said, "there is nothing that matches Worth." "What? Are you sure?" Macey wasn't willing to give up on this new bit of information, but I had almost been expecting this. We already knew that she was mysterious and nearly impossible to track down. I knew we weren't going to get anything on this strange girl until she was willing to tell us.


	6. Author's note

Author's Note

I won't be posting for another week because I have a ton going on - if you ever do history day, never do it by yourself! I also have to work on the next story I'm writing, and I don't want to post any more chapters until I have that figured out.


	7. Chapter 6

Cammie POV

The next day I woke up early and got dressed quietly. I was halfway out the door before I realized that one of my roommates was missing, and I bet you can guess who it was. I snuck out of the room and was passing the library when I heard low mumblings from inside. It sounded like a man and a girl's voices. I crept a little closer and I could just barely make out the words.

"Why won't you let me do this Soloman?" the girls voice was low, but I could clearly hear the Soloman part. I only knew one person who called him that. "Because it's too risky! You know this isn't a good idea." Soloman sounded annoyed. "I won't get caught. You know me." the girl was almost whining now. "No." "When did you become such a killjoy?" the girl whined. "When you almost died. Or do you not remember?"

After that there was silence, and I quickly crouched behind a tapestry opposite the door. I heard footsteps and my new roommate, or Worth as I was now referring to her, stepped outside, and Mr. Soloman followed close behind. Worth walked away without a backwards glance, but Mr. Soloman just stood there, looking after her. And the weird thing is, if I hadn't known better I would have sworn that he looked worried.

That morning at breakfast I told Macey, Liz, and Bex exactly what had happened. They just sat there, shocked, until Bex finally said something "You know what this means." And I did. We tailed Worth for the next few days, something that wasn't very hard to do considering that she had almost all of her classes with at least one of us. We observed everything she did and we followed her everywhere. We put bugs in our own room and in her shoes so that we could listen to her every conversation.

As we listened to our tapes five days later, we heard absolutely nothing. "What happened?" Macey asked. "Liz?" Liz just shook her head, dumbfounded. This was not a good sign. At that moment Worth walked in. She observed our high tech machinery and our facial expressions and laughed. It was the first time I heard her laugh, and it was actually very nice. It sounded a little forced, like laughing was something she didn't do often, and it was a special thing to get to hear it.

"You didn't think you could get answers that easily, did you?" she asked. "Well," said Macey "It was easier than asking you!" I could tell she was getting angry. "Have you ever actually asked me anything about myself other than my name?" she questioned. None of us had an answer to that. "I didn't think so," she said. "Rule number one: never make things harder than they need to be, and never jump to conclusions. Believe me, it'll make your life much more difficult." With that she left, and we all just stared at each other. _Who is this girl?_

The next morning we rendezvoused in our old attic tower that we had used so many times before. "So," said Macey, "are we going to ask her?" Bex, Liz, and I looked at each other. "Yep," we all said together. Liz quickly organized everything. I would ask the questions since she seemed to like me the best, Bex would be my backup, Macey would go through her stuff while I was questioning her, and Liz would be listening to our conversation through a tiny microphone imbedded in my watch.

Once everything was set up, I went to go look for Worth. I found her in the library looking, strangely enough, in the normal section. The normal section of the library is smaller than any other part of the library, and it's the place where they keep the ordinary books. The books that have nothing to do with decoding messages or disabling bombs underneath the French embassy. They're the books that no one at the Gallagher Academy ever looks at. Yet there she was, looking at a Harry Potter book. She noticed me and greeted me with "Come to ask those questions then?" "Um, yeah. I guess I'll just start then. What's your first name?" she didn't look up from the book as she answered the question. "Which one would you like to know?" I have to admit that I was slightly taken aback. "Your real one." "I can't tell you that." I could tell that this was going to be a long conversation. "Your most recent one then." "Amanda," she said. Finally we were getting somewhere! I started going down the list of questions that Liz, Macey, Bex, and I had prepared earlier. Our conversation went something like this:

_Where were you before you came to the Gallagher Academy?_

**Everywhere.**

_Who are your parents?_

**Nobody.**

_Why are you here?_

**Because I have to be.**

_Yes, but why do you have to be here? Who's forcing you to stay?_

**You are. You and all the other people here.**

_Us? How are we making you stay here?_

**I have things I need to do here. I can't leave until I'm finished.**

_How do you know Mr. Soloman?_

**I don't. Not really.**

_But you have met him before?_

**Yes. **

_Where?_

**Moscow.**

_What were you doing in Moscow?_

**You're smart enough to know the answer to that, aren't you Cammie?**

I was. I knew what she had been doing in Moscow. I had known the whole time. She wasn't like us. She wasn't a spy in training. She was a spy. She smiled at me. "I think Macey has had enough time to go through my stuff by now, don't you?" and she walked away.


	8. Chapter 7

Worth POV

After I left my little Q&A session with Cammie, I knew nothing would be the same. My roommates would be intimidated, even scared of me, and every student in the school would know exactly what I had said by dinnertime. It's not like we were great friends before, but I didn't really like the idea that they would all stop talking to me, noticing me, etc. I had gone through it all before–you let something slip, blow your cover, and you can say goodbye to your social life. It's honestly easier not to have one in the first place.

I stayed in the library until I was sure that Bex, Cammie, Macey, and Liz had gone to sleep before I crept back to my room and fell into bed, asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I didn't wake up at five like I usually did–I guess I was so exhausted that my brain couldn't wake my body up–and when I opened my eyes there was sunlight streaming through the windows and the room was empty. Great, it had started. I laid my head back down on the pillow, ready to go to sleep again when I saw the calendar above Liz's bed. It was March 16, which made it my birthday–my sweet 16, actually. I had forgotten like I did every year; it was odd that I forgot my own birthday, but it wasn't my real birthday anyway, just the one I was given when I was a baby. That's what happens when you're trained from birth to be a super spy.

I burrowed deeper into the quilt only to have it yanked off a moment later. I glanced up to see who had disturbed my peace and saw a shiny silver nose ring. "Get up before we have to drag you out," said Macey, grinning evilly. "What?" I looked around the room and saw the rest of my roommates: Bex standing behind Macey, getting ready to drag me out of bed if need be, Liz grinning next to her, and Cammie standing on her other side looking a little unsure of what would happen next. I swung my legs out of bed and stood up. "What are you doing here?" Bex slapped me on the head, slightly harder than she needed to. "This is our room too, in case you haven't noticed." I rubbed my head a little. "I meant why are you standing over me as I sleep?" Lix smiled even bigger. "We're going into town and you're coming with us." I sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea, guys." Bex hit me on the head again. "She said you're coming with us, not 'do you want to go?' " And I knew that not going was not an option.

I started making my way to the bathroom but was stopped by Macey. "Oh no you don't. I'm planning your outfit today–no more jeans and dark t-shirts for you, not in my presence." I made my hands into fists. This was going too far. "Over my dead body," I replied. She smiled at me. "That can be arranged." Cammie intervened before it could go any further. "How about we go for a compromise–Macey gets to pick the shoes and do your hair, and you, Worth, can pick the outfit." Macey was about to complain when Liz spoke up; "It's her birthday, Mace, let her wear what she wants." Macey sighed but agreed. "How do you know it's my birthday?" I was honestly curious–that kind of thing is seriously classified. "Oh, a little bird told us," said Cammie. "You mean your mom told you," I inferred. "Nope. Our little bird's name starts with an S," said Bex. No way–Soloman told them? I grinned in disbelief. "I guess we better get going then," said Liz.

We got to town and shopped awhile and then went to lunch, where they surprised me with a big cake with 16 candles in it. I found myself actually enjoying the trip and even laughing once in awhile.

When we got back to my room, I just had one question. "Why are you guys being so nice to me?" I asked them. They looked at each other. "Should we not be nice to you?" Cammie asked. "No. It's just that, after I told you–you know–I figured you wouldn't want to…I don't know…" Macey smiled knowingly. "You thought we'd be intimidated." "Well, yeah." They all started laughing. "Worth, we were already intimidated by you. Besides, we don't care that you're a spy. My mom and Bex's parents are spies too and we don't run away from them," Cammie explained. "But…" Bex was starting to get impatient. "Leave it alone Worth. We're sticking with you–you might as well get used to it."


	9. Chapter 8 final

I was in Countries of the World when I got my orders. A little 7th grader came up and handed me a note.

"Worth-

You got what you want. Be ready in ten.

-Solomon"

I knew right away what was going to happen, and I barely had time to react when Cammie asked to see the note. I stuffed it in my mouth and was relieved that it was printed on evapopaper. "Sorry, it said to eat it," I lied. She nodded, only looking slightly suspicious. I raised my hand and said I had to go to the bathroom before I dashed out of the room.

I sprinted up the stairs, scaring a few 8th graders in the process. I stuffed all of my things in my backpack and ran back down to Ms. Morgan's office. I knocked and she opened the door quickly. "You're right on time. You got your mission and a car is waiting for you outside." She hugged me briefly which kind of freaked me out–I'm not a hugging person and no one usually gives me one.

"Be careful Worth," she said. "Is there time to say goodbye to Cammie and the girls? And where's Solomon?" She shook her head. "You have to leave immediately. Solomon had a class to teach and we're trying to be as inconspicuous as possible." I nodded and left without another word, walking out of the mansion probably for the last time. I was halfway in the black limo when Solomon came running out of the building. "Worth!" I stopped and turned and he was there, hugging me tightly. "Be safe," he whispered in my ear. And then he was gone, disappearing back into the building like he had never been there at all. I got into the car and it immediately started moving. I looked back this time, watching the mansion grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared, just like Solomon.


End file.
